[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN SPECIAL RECOGNITION OF THE DEDICATION OF AN HISTORICAL LANDMARK SIGN 
        MARKING THE RED RIVER OX CART TRAIL IN ANOKA, MINNESOTA

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                          HON. MARK R. KENNEDY

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 21, 2004

  Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention 
to the dedication of an historical marker where the Red River Ox Cart 
Trail once passed through the city of Anoka, Minnesota.
  More than 150 years ago, the Red River Ox Cart Trail served as one of 
the main channels used by traders from Canada into St. Paul, Minnesota. 
The first of many ox cart trains on this trail was brought from Canada 
in 1844 by Norman W. Kittson, a trader for the American Fur Company, 
and within 20 years an annual amount of more than $250,000 worth of 
pelts, food and other goods were being transported in this manner to 
St. Paul, where some of the goods would be unloaded, repacked and sent 
down the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Missouri for shipment east.
  The carts used on this trail were unmistakable--large and wooden with 
six-foot wheels held together with wood pegs and rawhide, which 
produced a loud squealing sound that could be heard from miles away. 
The carts and their drivers, in their blue outfits adorned with brass 
buttons, red sashes and beaded caps became a familiar sight in St. 
Paul, where, after a 30-day trip from the Red River, the drivers would 
re-load their carts with food, medicine, hardware, and other goods 
before they returned northward.
  Mr. Speaker, it is my privilege to recognize today's dedication of an 
historical marker where history literally drove through Anoka, 
Minnesota. The use of this trail and others like it helped create a 
thriving shipping economy in Minnesota, which was sustained well after 
ox carts were replaced by the railroads. Today's dedication is the 
result of much hard work. I applaud Anoka's Heritage Preservation 
Society in keeping a piece of Minnesota's rich history alive.

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